Master 2017-2018

JOHN COOMBE-TENNANT 499th MASTER OF THE CLOTHWORKERS’ COMPANY

John joined the Court of The Clothworkers’ Company in 2009. He is the great-great-grandson of Edgar Horne (Master, 1878-79) and nephew of Peter Luttman-Johnson (Master, 1985-86). He has served on many of The Company’s committees, and is a Trustee of The Clothworkers’ Foundation.

The second of five children, he was born in London and grew up on a farm in West Sussex, attending prep school in Broadstairs and then Eton College. He studied English at the University of East Anglia, with a minor in History of Art, which included a term in Italy. During his university vacations, he worked in Boston (USA), Swansea, and Norwich, and he travelled widely whenever he could.

John joined Cazenove & Co in 1980 and trained in financial services, starting as a Blue Button on the floor of the Stock Exchange. He qualified as a Member of the Stock Exchange and worked in the research department and in client portfolio management. He was responsible for client relations in the privatisation of British Telecom and British Gas. John joined an IT start-up company in 1988, but soon moved to the Economist Intelligence Unit to cover European banking and markets.

In 1991, he and a school friend sailed a 46-foot Baltic across the Pacific to Hong Kong, where he joined Jardine Fleming’s Asian research team. He married Clare Bentley, who was working as a fund manager for Baring Asset Management: both of them have very happy memories of their time in Hong Kong. They now have four children, the youngest of whom is autistic, and both of them are active in schools and charities that work in Special Needs provision.

In 1999, the family returned to London, where John worked for Société Générale until he took on the management of two family investment companies. He is a director of East Pharma Ltd, a London-listed company that manufactures and markets branded generic pharmaceutical products. He is also on the board of Trophy Asset Management Ltd, a Hong Kong asset manager that runs regional equity funds.

John is a governor of Swiss Cottage School, a maintained special needs school in Camden. Other interests include Wales, farming and woodland management.

Hall Hire Gallery

This website uses cookies to improve your experience.

We use cookies to analyse our web traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our analytics partner, Google Analytics, who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services. View our privacy policy for details.